Monday, August 31, 2015

Some
37.000 plug-ins were sold last month, which represents a 44% increase
regarding the same
month last year, which shows that the global EV Market continues in good
health.The
top position in July had a surprising development in the last days, with the Mitsu Outlander PHEV performing an extraordinary result in the last minute (Japanese EV Market) allowing it to remove the BYD Qin from #1 and return to the Best Seller seat for the first time since December '13.Despite this last minute defeat, it was still a good month for the BYD Qin, scoring a runner-up place for the first time, with the Tesla Model S completing the podium, the Californian star stayed above the 3.000 units for the first time in the first month of the Quarter. Will that mean that Tesla will beat its own sales record (5.644 units) in September?A mention for the Nissan Leaf, which sold only 3.073 units, its worst result since February 2013 and the first time ever that the japanese hatch is below the podium seats. Is this a side effect of that rumored 30kWh battery?

Looking at the YTD ranking, the Outlander PHEV managed to keep the #3 from the BYD thanks to the aforementioned events, while in the rest of the ranking, the only notable fact is the Golf GTE closing in on the e-Golf sibling, with only 76 units separating them, expect the GTE to climb to #7 in August. This fact begs the question: Why doesn't VW sell the GTE in North America? Outside the Top 10, one model is making itself noticed, the Audi A3 e-Tron was #8 in the July ranking, selling a record 1.325 units, the german plug-in is now #11 in the YTD ranking, 776 units behind the #10 BAIC E-Series EV, with the e-Tron arriving to the USA in October, expect it to add an additional 300 units from then on and reach a Top 10 spot before year end.

Pl

WORLD

July

YTD

%

'14Pl

1

Nissan Leaf

3.073

28.143

12

1

2

Tesla Model S

3.115

24.867

10

3

3

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

4.169

21.425

9

2

4
5
6

BYD QinBMW i3
Renault Zoe e)

4.030
1.807
980

20.50712.3399.508

8
5
4

7
6
9

7

Volkswagen e-Golf

1.233

8.437

3

21

8

Volkswagen Golf GTE

1.611

8.361

3

33

9

Chevrolet Volt (1)

1.530

7.900

3

4

10

BAIC E-Series EV

1.161

6.964

3

16

TOTAL

36.529

244.302

Manufacturers - BYD beats Tesla

After three consecutive months winning the Best Selling Manufacturer title, BYD finally surpassed Tesla in the YTD ranking and now only has the
perennial leader Nissan in its way to reach the Manufacturers Title. Mitsubishi performed the surprise of the month, selling 4.551 units, with the restyled Outlander PHEV starting to spread across the world in the coming months, expect the japanese carmaker to recover ground on the Top 3 and even recover a podium seat in the near future.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Outlander PHEV Bounces BackAfter several months in the red, sales bounced back in July, growing 23% YoY to 3.501 units, making it the best selling month in tem months.This sudden bump in sales is due to the launch of the restyled Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which sold 2.383 units, a number that sets a new monthly record for a single model and places it in #30 in the general ranking.With the Leaf selling half (694 units) of what it did a year ago, the Outlander PHEV is back at the race for #1, it is still 875 units behind Nissan's hatch, but if the current leader doesn't rebound (The rumoured 30kWh...), Mitsu will take its restyled plug-in SUV to the leadership before year end.Looking at the brands ranking, Nissan (44%) lost share over Mitsubishi (41%), and next month might even see a leadership change.A final mention to the FCEV Toyota Mirai, 41 units were registered last month, not much, but it's a starting point, let's see how things develop from here.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

235 EV's were sold in Belgium last month, half of what it sold in the previous month, but with YoY
sales up 53%, it's more a case of seasonality (You know, Summertime...) than some kind of slowing down of sales.

The top places remain the same, but below the Top 5, things start to shake: The Outlander PHEV climbed one position to #6, switching places with the Nissan Leaf, which registered only 7 units, its worst showing in 14 months!

But there were more changes, the Audi A3 e-Tron broke its personal record by selling 25 units, surpassing at the same time the BMW i8 (7 units, worst result of the year), and reaching the Eighth Place, while the Mercedes B-Class ED is receiving a warm welcome here, selling a record 16 units and jumping three
positions to #11, becoming the best selling rookie this year, ahead of its S500 PHEV sibling.

In the manufacturers ranking, everything remains the same, with Porsche leading (23%), followed by Tesla (21%) and BMW, with 16%.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Rise Of The Empire EditionClose to 13.000 units were sold last month in the European EV market, and now with the Belgium numbers, there's a 75% improvement YoY, so the plug-in force continues to run strong in the Old Continent.

Looking
at the monthly models ranking, the Outlander PHEV returned to the Best Seller seat,
selling 1.711 units, followed closely by the VW Golf GTE (1.611 units).

The business-suit Golf GTE Audi A3 e-Tron continues to impress: Thanks to a second consecutive personal best performance (980 units in June, 1.310 now), the Ingolstadt model climbed for the first time to a podium seat and joined the short-listed club of four digit sales models.

Final
mention for the good performance of the Tesla Model S, scoring for the first time a thousand-something result in a first month of the quarter (1.106 units, to be precise), rising 130% YoY, a significant result for a model that starts in the high 60.000's of euros.

Pl

Model

Sales

1

Mitsu Outlander PHEV

1.711

2

Volkswagen Golf GTE

1.611

3

Audi A3 e-Tron

1.310

4

Tesla Model S

1.106

5

Nissan Leaf

1.038

Looking
at the YTD ranking, the VAG Group products are rising, the VW Golf GTE is now dangerously close to the #4 Tesla Model S, the Audi A3 e-Tron is up one position to #7, while the VW e-Up! is back at Tenth spot, making four VAG models in the Top 10, not bad, considering that only ten months ago it had just one representative...

On the
Losers side, besides the (Soon to be) discontinued models like the Smart Fortwo ED, Opel Ampera and the like, there are two models that deserve a special attention, the Volvo V60 Plug-In sold only 349 units, its worst result of the year, while the BMW i3, on top of losing one position to the Audi A3 e-Tron (It is now #8 versus #4 twelve months ago), was down 11% YoY, which is a bad sign when you are in a fast growing market. Is the little Bimmer starting to show its first wrinkles?

Looking at the brands ranking, Volkswagen is now officially the holder of Europe's
EV Manufacturers Throne (18%), followed closely by the now dethroned Mitsubishi (17%).

As for the Third Place, Renault (13%) won just a little more distance from its japanese cousin, Nissan, in Fourth with 12%.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

While the Model S continues flirting with top spots in several EV Markets, Elon Musk (And common sense), indicates that the real competition for Tesla aren't other plug-ins, but regular Premium Carmakers, like the german Three Marys (Audi, BMW and Mercedes), Lexus, Jaguar, Cadillac, etc.

In the US, the Model S might be ahead of the EV League, but it still falls largely behind their top competitors, selling less than half than the leader Mercedes E-Class (27k vs 13k). In Canada, things get better as the "S" is Second, behind the Merc E/CLS-Class.

But in Europe there are markets where Tesla is making a dent on the Three Marys domination, like in Switzerland, where Tesla sold 199 units, counting 837 sales YTD, it is close to the numbers of Audi A6 (1.159 units), BMW 5-Series (1.183 units) and Merc E-Class (1.007), or in Denmark, the american car is only 12 units behind the leader Audi A6 and will probably reach #1 next month.

Norway is a whole other case, Tesla is so mainstream that the Model S is #2 in the general ranking...

As for Asia, the only market where the Model S makes an impression is in Hong Kong, leading the full-size class.

Model X

While the Model S has problems to reach high volumes and race their class top sellers, the Model X has a more friendly market to tackle, not only the full-size SUV segment is less dependent from conservative-leaning fleet buyers, therefore it's less brand-minded, making it easier to steal sales from other manufacturers.

Tesla sources say that preorders for the "X" is higher than it was for its sedan sibling, so one might expect that Tesla's SUV will have at least the same demand as the "S", if this year deliveries will be in the hundreds per month, next year sales should take off and rise to similar numbers as the Model S

An interesting question for the future will be if both can coexist peacefully or will the Model X "Cayenneize" the Model S and eat into their sales.

Trophy Rooms in the G8 Here are the best sellers throughout the years in the Top EV Markets:

Country

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015 *

USA

Chevrolet Volt

Nissan Leaf

Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Volt

Nissan Leaf

Tesla Model S

China

JAC J3 EV

Chery QQ3 EV

Chery QQ3 EV

Chery QQ3 EV

BYD Qin

BYD Qin

Japan

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Nissan Leaf

T. Prius Plug-In

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

France

Cit. Berlingo EV

Renault Kangoo ZE

Renault Kangoo ZE

Renault Zoe

Renault Zoe

Renault Zoe

Netherlands

Think City

Nissan Leaf

Opel Ampera

M. Outlander PHEV

M. Outlander PHEV

VW Golf GTE

Norway

Think City

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

VW e-Golf

Germany

Smart Fortwo ED

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Renault Twizy

Smart Fortwo ED

BMW i3

VW Golf GTE

UK

Smart Fortwo ED

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

M. Outlander PHEV

M. Outlander PHEV

Looking at early years, the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf divided the headlines, with brief appearances from the Prius Plug-In (2012 in Japan) and Renault Twizy ('12 in Germany). A mention for the strong showing for LCV's in France and the initial lead from Think (Remember them?) in the Netherlands and Norway.

In most recent years, the sales trend goes for plug-in hybrids, this year, for the first time, four out of the eight best-sellers are PHEV's, with the Qin ruling in China, the Outlander PHEV in the UK, and the Golf GTE stealing the show in the Netherlands and Germany, a curious fact regarding this last market is that in six years there were five different leaders, making it probably the most entretaining EV Market in the world.

Trophy Rooms in other Markets

As for the rest of the markets, there is something for everyone:

Country

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015 *

Canada

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Volt

Tesla Model S

Sweden

Volvo C30 Electric

Mitsubishi I-Miev

T. Prius Plug-In

Volvo V60 Plug-In

M. Outlander PHEV

M. Outlander PHEV

Switzerland

Think City

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Renault Twizy

Renault Zoe

Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S

Italy

Citröen C-Zero

Renault Twizy

Renault Twizy

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Belgium

Tesla Roadster

Peugeot iOn

Renault Twizy

Volvo V60 Plug-In

Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S

Spain

Think City

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Renault Twizy

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Austria

Think City

Citröen C-Zero

Renault Twizy

Renault Zoe

Renault Zoe

Tesla Model S

Denmark

Peugeot iOn

Peugeot iOn

Renault Fluence ZE

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Tesla Model S

South Korea

Kia Ray EV

Samsung SM3 ZE

Kia Soul EV

Kia Soul EV

Australia

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Nissan Leaf

M. Outlander PHEV

M. Outlander PHEV

Portugal

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Renault Twizy

Renault Twizy

BMW i3

Nissan Leaf

Hong Kong

Nissan Leaf

Ren. Fluence ZE

BMW i3

Tesla Model S

Estonia

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Ireland

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Finland

Think City

Citröen C-Zero

T. Prius Plug-In

Volvo V60 Plug-In

M. Outlander PHEV

Nissan Leaf

Czech Republic

Smart Fortwo ED

Smart Fortwo ED

Peugeot iOn

Nissan Leaf

BMW i3

VW e-Golf

Iceland

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf

Poland

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Peugeot iOn

Nissan Leaf

BMW i3

M. Outlander PHEV

New Zealand

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Nissan Leaf

Mitsubishi I-Miev

M. Outlander PHEV

M. Outlander PHEV

South
Africa

Nissan Leaf

BMW i8

Russia

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Mitsubishi I-Miev

Mitsubishi I-Miev

M. Outlander PHEV (?)

Tesla Model S (?)

Slovenia

Citröen C-Zero

Citröen C-Zero

Tesla Model S

Renault Zoe

* - Until July

Looking at early winners, the Mitsubishi I-Miev triplets pioneered the EV market in several markets, while in 2012 the Renault Twizy had its Moment of Glory, leading the way in six different markets.

In 2013 the Twizy vanished from the map, replaced by the Nissan Leaf and later by the Outlander PHEV and Tesla Model S.